online marketing
DESCRIPTION
online marketingTRANSCRIPT
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Practice of Online Marketing
with Social Media in Tourism
Destination Marketing
The case study of VisitSweden, Sweden
Sdertrns University | Department of Business Studies
Master Program in Tourism Studies | Masters dissertation | 2011-06-16
Author: Viet Hung Nguyen & Zhuochuan Wang
Supervisor: Anders Steene, Associate Professor
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ABSTRACT
Purpose: The paper seeks to provide insights into the application of internet
communication technologies with social media in tourism industry from the perspectives
of destination marketing organizations (DMOs), evaluating their effectiveness for tourism
destination marketing management. The specific purpose is to uncover the important role
online marketing with practice of social media to build the destination brands and engage
the audience to reach potential visitors.
Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative case-study method generates understanding
of approach on digital innovation in DMOs marketing. In-depth interview allows exploration of how online marketing strategies with practice of social media used in
destination branding processes and engagement of the audience.
Findings: DMOs need to realize the role online marketing and social media activities in
marketing tourism destination and engage the audience to reach the potential visitors.
Social media as one of internet communication options is an area of growth in the online
marketing communication
DMOs need to emphasize the wide participation in online marketing and social media
activities to achieve benefits. DMOs have to be in the place where the visitors are.
Integrating online marketing and social media activities with traditional marketing is an
essential marketing strategy for todays DMOs.
Practical implications: Understanding the role of online marketing and social media in
building destination brands and creating audiences engagement may contribute to the success of marketing strategies and correspondingly to the destinations ability to increase the competitiveness.
Research limitations/implications: This study offers the contributions to the need of
creating online marketing strategies and leveraging social media activities. However, it
probably suffers from the fact that it has been conducted in a specific DMO. Therefore it
would be evaluated in comparison with the results of other DMOs to generalize the
patterns.
Originality/value: The study contributes to debates on the use of social media in
destination marketing, the value of the study lies in a new approach to the role of online
marketing and social media focusing on building destination brands
Keywords: Online marketing, social media, Destination Marketing Organizations
(DMOs), VisitSweden
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to send our thanks to all those who have helped us directly and indirectly
during the time of writing this paper.
Our special gratitude to supervisor: Anders Steene - Associate Professor, who has helped
us from the first day of thesis to the end. His valuable advices have helped us to make us
our thesis strong.
We would like to express our thanks to those people at VisitSweden, Stockholm who we
have contacted and interviewed. They have a vital contribution in our thesis. We would
like to thanks Lars Nslund Head of Internet Communications for giving us the time for the interview, Michael Persson and Ylva Bjrnberg for their help although we do not have a chance to meet and interview.
Lastly, we own our deepest gratitude to our family members and friends who have given
us the courage and support.
Sdertrns University, 16th June 2011
Viet Hung Nguyen
Zhuochuan Wang
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For the time we live and study at Sweden!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................... I
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................. II
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... IV
LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... VII
LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... VIII
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1
1.1. BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM DISCUSSION ................................................................................... 1
1.2. PROBLEM DEFINITION .................................................................................................................... 3
1.3. PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................................................................................... 4
1.4. BOUDARIES .................................................................................................................................... 4
1.5. ESSAY OUTLINE .............................................................................................................................. 5
2. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 6
2.1. RESEARCH APPROACH .................................................................................................................... 6
2.1.1. Research strategy ........................................................................................................................ 6
2.1.2. Case study selection .................................................................................................................... 7
2.1.3. Research method ......................................................................................................................... 7
2.2. DATA COLLECTION.......................................................................................................................... 7
2.2.1. Primary data collection ................................................................................................................ 8
2.2.1.1. Interview method .................................................................................................................... 8
2.2.2. Secondary data collection ........................................................................................................... 8
2.3. DATA ANALYSIS .............................................................................................................................. 8
2.4. RESEARCH QUALITY ........................................................................................................................ 9
2.4.1. Validity and Reliability ................................................................................................................. 9
2.4.1.1. Construct validity .................................................................................................................... 9
2.4.1.2. Internal validity ....................................................................................................................... 9
2.4.1.3. External validity ..................................................................................................................... 10
2.4.1.4. Reliability ............................................................................................................................... 10
2.4.2. Errors ......................................................................................................................................... 10
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3. LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................... 11
3.1. ONLINE MARKETING .................................................................................................................... 11
3.1.1. Online marketing definition....................................................................................................... 11
3.1.2. Types of online marketing ........................................................................................................ 11
3.1.3. Advantages of online marketing ................................................................................................ 13
3.2. ONLINE MARKETING IN TOURISM DESTINATION .......................................................................... 14
3.2.1. Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) .......................................................................... 14
3.2.2. Online marketing in DMOs ........................................................................................................ 15
3.3. SOCIAL MEDIA .............................................................................................................................. 18
3.3.1. Social media definition .............................................................................................................. 18
3.3.2. Social media platforms .............................................................................................................. 20
3.3.2.1. Social networks .......................................................................................................................... 21
3.3.2.2. Blogs / Publishing ....................................................................................................................... 21
3.3.2.3. Multimedia sharing .................................................................................................................... 22
3.3.2.4. Online customer reviews and ratings ........................................................................................ 23
3.3.2.5. Tagging and social bookmarking ................................................................................................ 23
3.3.2.6. Forums ....................................................................................................................................... 23
3.4. USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA .................................................................................................................. 24
3.5. TOURISM DESTINATION BRAND ................................................................................................... 25
3.5.1. Brand and branding ................................................................................................................... 25
3.5.2. Brand equity .............................................................................................................................. 27
3.5.3. Customer-based brand equity ................................................................................................... 28
3.5.4. Marketing communications in building brand equity ............................................................... 29
3.5.5. Destination brand ...................................................................................................................... 30
4. EMPIRICAL .......................................................................................................................... 32
4.1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 32
4.2. EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ................................................................................................................... 32
4.2.1. The role of online marketing in DMOs ...................................................................................... 32
4.2.2. Social media approach at VisitSweden ...................................................................................... 34
4.2.3. Social media platforms monitoring at VisitSweden ................................................................... 35
4.2.3.1. Community of Sweden .......................................................................................................... 35
4.2.3.2. VisitSweden on Facebook ..................................................................................................... 36
4.2.3.3. VisitSweden on multimedia sharing ...................................................................................... 37
4.2.3.4. VisitSweden on Twitter ......................................................................................................... 38
4.2.3.5. VisitSweden on Blogs ............................................................................................................ 39
5. ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................................. 40
5.1. Online marketing why it is essential for todays tourism destination marketing? ...................... 40
5.2. How do DMOs build destination brands through social media? ................................................... 41
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5.3. How do DMOs use digital social media platforms to engage audience and reach potential visitor?
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6. RESULTS ............................................................................................................................... 45
6.1. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................ 45
6.2. FURTHER RESEARCHES ................................................................................................................. 46
6.3. LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................................................ 47
7. QUALITY ASSURANCE AND CRITICAL REVIEW ....................................................... 48
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................... 49
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LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1: VISITSWEDEN WEBSITE ........................................................................... 15
FIGURE 2: YOURSINGAPORE WEBSITE .................................................................... 16
FIGURE 3: CANADA OFFICIAL TOURISM WEBSITE ............................................... 17
FIGURE 4: WEB 1.0 AND WEB 2.0 PARADIGM ......................................................... 19
FIGURE 5: THE SHIFT TO A CONVERSATIONAL WEB ........................................... 20
FIGURE 6: SOCIAL MEDIA LANDSCAPE ................................................................... 20
FIGURE 7: DO YOU TRUST ONLINE CUSTOMER REVIEWS AS MUCH AS
PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS? ...................................................................... 23
FIGURE 8: BUSINESS GOALS FOR USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA .................................. 24
FIGURE 9: BRAND SYSTEM ......................................................................................... 26
FIGURE 10: BRAND AT THE CORE OF ALL MARKETING ACTIVITIES AND
BEHAVIOR ................................................................................................................. 27
FIGURE 11: BRAND IDENTITY SYSTEM .................................................................... 28
FIGURE 12: MARKETING COMMUNICATION OPTIONS ........................................ 29
FIGURE 13: COMMUNITYOFSWEDEN WEBSITE ..................................................... 36
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LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 1: FACEBOOK PAGES OF VISITSWEDEN ..................................................... 37
TABLE 2: TWITTER ACCOUNTS OF VISITSWEDEN ................................................ 39
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1. INTRODUCTION
The aim of this chapter is to give an overview of the topic with the scope of research and to
provide readers an outline of the paper. It begins with the discussion about the
background and research problem, along with the study objectives and research questions.
The boundaries of the study subject are also mentioned. Finally, an outline of the study is
presented.
1.1. BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM DISCUSSION
We are living in the age of real-time information and communciation spreading all over
the world. By June 31 2010, 29 % of world population is using internet. (Internet Usage
Statistics, 2011). Moreover, these internet users are much more connected than ever. The
customer no longer receive the information passively or listen direct personal
recommendation. The visitors could gather travel experiences, advices by attending the
travel forum, asking questions to have answers instantly from people at the destination or
any corner of world. They have already been engaged and interacted with the information
channels and social virtual communities without any borderlines. The vast development of
the buzz words such as Google, Facebook, video-sharing website Youtube, blogs and
micro-blog such as Twitter are the most efficient evidences, considering as the heart of
change in the communication channel and the virtual social life.
According to Brand-Finance (2011), the worlds most comprehensive brand value survey called The BrandFinance Global 500, has ranked Google as the most valuable brands across all major markets. Google, the dominant website of information search engine
sector, is the most valuable brand in the world ($44.3 billion), edging Microsoft ($42.8
billion) into second place. The report shows that the people are increasing dependence on
the internet in the world that is reflected by Googles position at No.1. By the time of writing this paper, Facebook exceeds 500 million active users to become the most famous
social networking website (Facebook company timeline, 2011) more than the population
of the United State as the third most populated nation in the world. The development of
these digital information technologies forces firms, organizations to focus on it as one the
key aspects to compete in the international marketplace.
In the new global economy, the rapid growth and diversification of tourism over the years
have become a worldwide phenomenon and affected significantly the national economies.
These increasingly considerable effects of tourism are not only on overall economic
activities, but also on communities. (World Tourism Organization, 2010). Within the
tourism activities, tourism destination is a crucial and fundamental element of the tourism
system where most of significant and dynamic elements of tourism occur. (Cooper,
Fletcher, David and Wanhill, 1998). Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) plays
an important role in the tourism development and marketing of the area. Since the late 19th
century and for most of that time DMOs have played an effective role in the development
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of tourism worldwide. (Pike, Destination Marketing Organizations, 2004). The marketing
strategies and its implementation are the backbone of destinations activities. Together with long-time tradtional marketing tactics by using marketing campaigns, events and so
forth to build the destination brands gradually and reach the potential visitors, DMOs
could take the advantages of internet communication technologies and the development of
social media to market the destination as the distinctive online marketing strategies. The
term of online marketing could be called in different ways in its evolution process such as
e-marketing, digital marketing, internet marketing or web-based marketing. World
Tourism Ozganization and European Travel Commission (2008) showed that the purpose
of online marketing is to exploit internet and other forms of digital communication to
correspond with target markets in the most cost-effective way. Online marketing should
not be a separate activity, must be an integral part of the marketing program of DMOs.
Internet has become an increasingly important means of promoting and distributing
tourism services. An online platform of DOMs can be created through the reciprocal
linking of websites, where customers can access information and purchase multiple
components of a holiday online. (Palmer & McCole, 2000) Online marketing is a relatively
new aspect of strategic implementation. It expands rapidly and becomes very important to
nearly all types of businesses. Online marketing might be considered as a functional aspect
of marketing strategy. (Natekin, 2010). Online marketing offers DOMs the realistic
potential to reach a far wider audience than ever before. (Vella & Kester, 2008)
Social media is still in its inception because of its constant evolution with the up-to-minute
deveploment of internet and information technologies. Social media is essentially one of
the communication channels. Therefore, it has the potential influence to the customers.
However it needs to be planned and defined as a distinctive strategy. The controversy
about the practice of social media and how to adapt them in different economic sectors
have raged unabated at this time. According to a 2009 report from Altimeter Group, the
company deeply engaged in different online social media channels, grew in revenue by
18% over the last year while companies that were least engaged dropped in average 6% of
revenue over the same period. (Li, 2009).
Debate continues about the best strategies of leveraging online marketing and social media
for the management of DMOs. Within the academia environment, there have not been
many researches and the practical demonstration of online marketing and social media in
the tourism studies in general and the destination marketing management in particular.
In 2010, the proposal for national strategy for Sweden tourism to 2020 was published since
it has emerged on the initiative of Sweden tourism in dialogue with other industry
stakeholders as well as the demand of promoting the brand of Sweden globally. The
strategy proposal was conducted by Swedish Tourism AB (Svensk Turism AB) in
cooperation with the Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Association (SHR), VisitSweden,
Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tillvxtverket), Swedish Airports (Swedavia AB), Stockholm Visitors Board , Sweden's Network of Regional Tourism
Organizations/West Sweden Tourism Council (Ntverket Sveriges Regionala Turistorganisationer/Vstsvenska Turistrdet) with assistance from the Swedish Board of Agriculture (Jordbruksverket) (Nilsson, 2010). There are many aspects that concern both
among the industry organizations, destinations and individual companies with many
focusing areas and strategic objectives. The need for marketing and promoting the Sweden
tourism destination is also mentioned in the proposal which proves partly the strategy of
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Sweden towards the development of tourism industry in general and the destination
marketing management in particular in the next decade.
This study uses the case study of VisitSweden, that is the Swedish national tourism
marketing organisation, owned equally by the Swedish Government (via Ministry of
Enterprise, Energy and Communications) and the Swedish Tourism Industry. The
company has indentified their marketing assigment to focus on the international marketing
of the Swedish brand and Swedish destinations and experiences. (VisitSweden website,
2011) As other DMOs, VisitSweden is making an effort in intergrating digital marketing
within their traditional marketing techniques. The company is partly involved in social
media marketing by building the social media platforms to strengthen the brands and reach
potential visitors. The report in VisitSwedens Devblog in 2007 showed that by the time of lunching an official online community, VisitSweden used social media as one of the
strategies for promoting Sweden brands and engage the online community with an attemt
to reach potential visitors. The community was linked directly to VisitSweden.com the
Swedens official tourism website, was the first one to focus on entire country with interactivity and user-generated contents (Devblog, 2007).
Attempt
1.2. PROBLEM DEFINITION
The internet and other new technologies have changed most of the industry from service,
industry to business sector on an unprecedented scale. Tourism industry is not an
exception. Internet information is now one of the important influences to the customer
decisions in many major markets. The tourist tends to book travel trips, arrange their air
ticket and accommodation as well as find the information of destination in travel forum,
online group or social networking website in the internet. As a result, it is clear that the
internet and new information technologies have become a priority for both tourism
enterprises and DMOs. Travellers have become increasingly knowledgeable and
sophisticated as they could know about their destinations before arriving destination by
searching information in travel blogs, asking questions on travel forum to get instant
answers. Social media has also gradually changed tourists behavior in finding infomation from asking travel agents advices to that of asking friends and peer reviews, word of mouht through social media networking websites and other source from internet.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and European Travel Commission (ETC)
(2010) showed that the national tourism organizations (NTOs) need to find the solution of
remaining relevant and useful to potential visitors in the digital age. The web 2.0
environtment requires NTOs to change their mindset in implementing marketing
communications. It need to be involved in more active and transforming activities to
leverage the destination brands in the competitive situation when destination marketing has
become increasingly competitive and less differentiated as more countries compete with
similar branding and positioning strategies. Tourism destination around the world needs to
acknowledge the importance of their brand as the source of international competitiveness.
Recently, The Singapore Tourism Board has changed and refocused the Singapore
destination brand from Uniquely Singapore (used from 2004 to 2009) to YourSingapore (lunched on 5 March, 2010). (YourSingapore Wikipedia, 2011). At the heart of the campaign is a holistic digital approach that includes online marketing
strategies such as a new website, significant investment into search engine marketing,
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blogger engagement, mobile, social media and travel e-commerce. The success of this
campaign has not been revealed and will be answered in the future.
Obviously, It raises the question for DOMs that what will be the outcome of adapttion to
apply online maketing strageties with social media activities as one of internet marketing
communication channels in building brands, engage audience and reach potential visitors,
and how to practice these marketing tactics to achieve the successful results. To contribute
to the limited researchs, This paper provides an insight online marketing and the use of
social media for DMOs to consider. The focus is the approach to examine the role of
online marketing for todays tourism destination marketing and to develop and monitor social media platforms as one of efficent marketing communication options, in doing so,
the DMOs could build destination brands and acquire more audience to reach potential
visitors
1.3. PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
By assessing the existing theory and up-to-date situation of online marketing and social
media in business and tourism sector as well as in the context of DMOs, the authors aim to
contribute an understanding online marketing and digital communication channels with
social media as one of marketing communication options in destination marketing. The
research focuses on discussing and analyzing the role of online marketing with the use of
social media in marketing destination. Leveraging online marketing and social media to
convince DMOs that social media as one of marketing communications tools is a necessity
in building and strengthening destination brands as well as engaging audience and
attracting potential visitors. Therefore, the aim of the research is to answer the following
questions.
Online marketing why it is essential for todays tourism destination marketing?
How do destination marketing organizations (DMOs) build destination brands through social media?
How do DMOs use digital social media platforms to engage the audience to reach potential visitors?
The answer of research questions is to contribute to the knowledge of online marketing
and social media in destination marketing management. It helps destination marketing
director or destination manager review their destination marketing strategies and social
media approach to adjust suitable marketing strategies. Understanding the character of
online marketing tactics and social media and confronting them with efficient strategies
may contribute to develop more attractive tourism products and create more innovative
tourism campaigns. In addition, the topic correspondingly interacts with the potential
growing area of mobile marketing, geo-location with advertising and mobile applications
in the mobile devices, thereby enabling DMOs to have more competitiveness.
1.4. BOUDARIES
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Choosing the case study of VisitSweden, we have found that the case study of
VisitSweden will be appropriate to answer our research questions because VisitSweden The official tourism board of Sweden acts as DMOs is responsible for promoting the
Swedens brands internationally. Moreover, VisitSweden are also putting the internet communication technologies with online marketing strategies and social media as one of
the strategic development. The company is participating to some degree in social media
activities by using the social media platforms such as official online community of
Sweden, Facebook fan page, Twitter, blog. Choosing this particular case study, the
research results may only be valid for specific DMOs, which would make replication
studies in other DMOs to take more generalized conclusion. Therefore, for more
conclusively generalized suggestion a more extensive investigation is required.
1.5. ESSAY OUTLINE
The thesis is designed into five major chapters. The first chapter gives the reader a
considerable background in an extensive literature study in the field of online marketing,
social media in business and tourism sector as well as points out the problem discussion
and the objective of the research. Research boundaries are also introduced.
The second chapter is the research methodology demonstrating the qualitative research
method with the use of interview as the main method to obtain the primary data. The
quality of research is also mentioned.
The third major chapter of the research is the literature review that is built to narrow down
the scope of extensive theory. The literature review will help the reader to have a better
understanding of the subject and it is directly used to relate and discuss the empirical data.
The forth chapter is the empirical study. The empirical data was collected from the
interview with the person who is related directly to the topic of research. In addition, we
combine interview with examining the companys web site contents and the official blog of development (Devblog) and VisitSweden CEOs blog (VDblogg) which are directly connected to the issue of online marketing and social media activities that are being done
at VisitSweden and the official online community of Sweden for the purpose of verifying
and analyzing to achieve our analysis and conclusion.
The last chapter of the research is the analysis and conclusion. In the analysis we discuss
our findings from both of our research questions and the theoretical study. We analyze our
findings in two dimensions. First we have some of conclusions from the literature study,
and then we examine and discuss the empirical data from the interviews in relation to
relevant theory from the literature study. Finally, we discuss the empirical study in relation
to the general findings and conclusions from the literature study and make conclusions for
the research. The conclusion also gives the reader the recommendations for further
research and indicates limitations of the study.
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2. METHODOLOGY
The intention of this chapter is to provide the reader a brief description of a range of
strategic research approaches and methods used for collecting data. The authors made a
choice of using the appropriate qualitative research method to answer the research
questions. The chapter starts with the research approach giving our research strategy and
defining clearly our choice of research method, then followed by method of secondary and
primary data collection, and method of data analysis. This chapter ends with our
awareness of research validity and errors.
2.1. RESEARCH APPROACH
2.1.1. Research strategy
A clearly defined and expressed research problem is one of the important preconditions for
developing research plan. To conduct the research, choosing a research strategy with the
facts such as available time, facilities, availability of data, methods of analysis, and
researchers developing skill is also critical. (Walliman, 2005). Phillip and Pugh (1994) identified three basic aims of research: Testing out (a common feature of this kind of
research is that it make generalizations from specific examples), Problem solving (this
kind of research identifies a real-life problem.) and Exploration, (as cited in Walliman, 2005). Walliman asserted that exploration research delves into the new and relatively
unexplored problem issues with little or no previous researches which have been done on
those topics. It will be hard to delineate precisely the scope of the research or predict the
results. Therefore, exploring existing theories, concepts and methods might be used, or
failing those, formulating new ones is a necessary element.
During the time conducting this study, we have realized that the researches about online
marketing and social media in tourism as well as its application in destination online
marketing is still new and comparatively limited. In addition, there are a very rapid
expansion and development of this aspect with many debates and discussions. As a result,
we have tried to explore existing theories about online marketing and social media
including paper source and electronic format in business sector to apply to the scope of
destination marketing management in tourism.
Walliman (2005) claimed that there are commonly five major different types of research
(or research strategies or methodologies), namely experimental, survey, archival analysis,
historical and case study. The case study of VisitSweden the national official tourism board of Sweden is used in this research.
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2.1.2. Case study selection
Daymon and Holloway (2002) stated that a case study is an intensive examination, using
multiple sources of evidence which may be qualitative, quantitative or both, of a single
entity which is bounded by time and place. The case could be an organization, a set of
people such as a social or work group, a community, an event, a process, an issue or a
campaign. As a research strategy, using case study for research purposes is also one of the
most challenging of all social science endeavors. (Yin R. K., 2003)
The case study VisitSweden - the official tourism board of Sweden is used to contribute to
our knowledge of organization as well as the awareness of up-to-the-minute related
knowledge about online marketing and social media applied in destination marketing
management. We have found that the case study of VisitSweden will be appropriate to
answer our research questions because. VisitSweden as DMO, has the clear assignment to
promote and market destination brands globally, highlights the role of online marketing
and social media The company is conducting the social media activities by using a wide
range of social media platforms such as largest online community of Sweden, social
networking site Facebook, Twitter information channel and blogs.
2.1.3. Research method
There are three types of research methods which are usually mentioned, namely
quantitative, qualitative and the mixture of that. Generally quite a strong distinction is
made between quantitative and qualitative research, which also requires different
techniques for analyzing of relatively separated and different data. (Walliman, 2005).
We decided to use the qualitative approach within the scope of study. Strauss and Corbin
(1998) defined that by the term qualitative research we mean any type of research that generates findings not arrived at by statistical procedures or other means of quantification.
The research objective is not to obtain the formulation for the practice of VisitSweden as a
DMO and other DMOs to use online marketing strategies with social media to build
brands and engage the audience as a must. It is rather desired to go deeper into the needs
and new method to market tourism destination which is more innovative, so VisitSweden
could be differentiated from other DMOs. Personally the research is also to help the author
having an in-depth understanding of this up-to-minute and worldwide interested
phenomenon. The focus of the study will be the analysis of empirical data collected from
the in-depth interview with person who work for the destination marketing organization
combined with the findings from the existing theories to have the findings and conclusion.
2.2. DATA COLLECTION
According to (Walliman, 2005), once the research problem has been identified, it will be
appropriate to decide first the type of quantitative or qualitative approach, which will be
needed to investigate the research problem, and then type of data which is required to be
collected in order to make analysis. Commonly, there are primary and secondary data. The
distinction between these data is based on the sources from the data are derived, i.e. from
primary or secondary source.
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2.2.1. Primary data collection
Data from primary sources can be gained by direct detached observation or measurement
of phenomena in the real world, undisturbed by any intermediary interpreter. For example,
the recording what actually happened during a meeting can be regarded as a primary data
(Walliman, 2005). The authors have chosen the method of in-depth interview as the main
way of collecting primary data combining with evaluation of VisitSweden website
contents and official blogs.
2.2.1.1. Interview method
According to Daymon and Holloway (2002), the qualitative research method in the topic
of marketing communications and public relations, interviews are a useful kind of data
collection since they allow researcher to explore the perspectives and perceptions of
various stakeholders and publics.
In this study we conducted the interview with Lars Nslund who is responsible for online marketing strategies, internet communications and social media at VisitSweden.
Lars Nslund
Lars Nslund is head of Internet Communications department. He is in charge of develop and maintain the internet communications technologies for all online activities at
VisitSweden and 12 foreign offices, including VisitSweden official web site
www.visitsweden.com, with partner site http://partner.visitsweden.com/, B2B meeting &
incentive http://meetings.visitsweden.com/, www.communityofsweden.com, Facebook and
Twitter accounts, blogs, YouTube channel. The department also support for the single
tourism campaigns for each period of time. As the head of the department, he is also
responsible for all the online initiatives and social media application at VisitSweden.
2.2.2. Secondary data collection
One of the important tasks to undertake the collection of data is secondary data collection.
Walliman (2005) claimed that it is difficult to see how a researcher could conduct an
effective research using only primary data and ignore the theoretical in the same or similar
area of study. In this paper, our most common form of secondary data is writings in books,
articles, reports, newspapers and other publications both in electronic and printed form. In
addition, the discussions on professional social networking site Linkedin, opinion of social
media experts also have considerable contribution to the process of generate secondary
data.
2.3. DATA ANALYSIS
According to Yin (2003), Data analysis consists of examining, categorizing, tabulating, testing, or otherwise recombining both quantitative and qualitative evidence to address the
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initial propositions of a study. In this paper data analysis is the combination of both theoretical and empirical data.
We try to build a solid and reliable theory framework that will help the authors to process
the theory within the literature study. We consider the theory as one source of data to
discuss and make conclusions to answer the research questions from literature study.
One important process of data analysis is our discussion from the combination of empirical
data from the interviews in relation to relevant theory from the literature study, and then
we analyze and discuss the empirical study in relation to the general findings and
conclusions from the literature study and make conclusions from that.
2.4. RESEARCH QUALITY
In the past time, reliability and validity are used commonly in quantitative research,
however, reliability and validity are used extensively in the qualitative research paradigm
at present and they are reconsidered. (Golafshani, Understanding Reliability and Validity
in Qualitative Research, 2003)
2.4.1. Validity and Reliability
Yin (2003) noticed that there are four tests: construct validity, internal validity, external
validity and reliability, which are commonly used to judge the quality of any empirical
social research. These four tests are also very vital concepts that relate to case studies. In
this study, these entire four tests are examined carefully.
2.4.1.1. Construct validity
According to Yin (2003), construct validity is especially problematic in case study
research. Critics of case studies often argue subjective judgments are used to collect the
data. To increase construct validity when doing case studies, there are three tactics can be
followed: the first is to use multiple sources of evidence; the second is to establish a chain
of evidence; the third is to have the draft case study report reviewed by key informants.
This study has used multiple sources of evidence such as interviews and official publishing
from VisitSweden on the blog. The authors have also tried to maintain chain of evidence
by keeping the accuracy of evidence. The interview was carried out with cautious notes
and recorded.
2.4.1.2. Internal validity
Internal validity can be seen as the concept that addresses whether or not an observed
should be considered a causal relationship. (Calder, Phillips and Tybout, 1982)
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Yin (2003) argued internal validity from two perspectives. First he argued internal validity
only concerns causal or explanatory case studies. This means when researchers try to
determine if one event will lead to another event, they might put some interpretation from
their side into the final conclusion without knowing, and this could occur the risk of
internal validity. Furthermore, Yin also mentioned the concern of internal validity may be
extended to the broader problem of making inferences.
2.4.1.3. External validity
External validity means to examine whether or not an observed causal relationship
(findings of the study) should be generalized to and across different measures, persons,
settings, and times (Calder, Phillips and Tybout, 1982). Yin (2003) mentioned that case
study will be difficult for generalizing since case studies rely on analytical generalization.
So, the analysis should try to generalize the findings into theory. In this study, the authors try to point out the findings from literature and empirical study at VisitSweden that
could consider as theory for the practice of online marketing with social media in DMOs.
2.4.1.4. Reliability
Reliability can be considered as the measure of how stable, dependable, trustworthy, and
consistent a test is in measuring the same thing each time. (Worthen, Borg and White,
1993) This means the same result should be arrived if one researcher followed the same
procedures and conducted the same case study as a previous researcher did. (Yin R. K.,
2003). The goal of reliability in a research is to minimize the errors and biases. Yin also
mentioned two tactics to strengthen the reliability of the case study, namely the use of a
case study protocol and the development of a case study data base.
In this study it is impossible for later researchers to get the same answers because the
development of internet communication technologies and social media are consistently
changing in various types. The studies about online marketing and practice of social media
in DMOs could be carried out by later researches but the results cannot exactly be the
same as we concluded in this study and it will be difficult to generalize from the case study
VisitSweden to another as typical sample for the practice of other DMOs.
2.4.2. Errors
In this study there are some sources of error. Firstly, in this paper the choosing case can
affect the results of the study. Different case study may lead to different results. Secondly,
the biases of the authors also have an effect on the results of this study. In the process of
writing we may put our own opinions in the interpretations of the results. Lastly, the
interview to collect the empirical date is conducted in English, which is not the first
language for both the authors and interviewee. This may lead that there are
misunderstandings or misinterprets during the interview.
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3. LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, the literature review will be built to narrow down the scope of theory by
collecting of previous relevant researches. The literature review will contribute to the
knowledge of the studied subject which help the reader have a better understanding of the
study.
3.1. ONLINE MARKETING
3.1.1. Online marketing definition
According to Eley and Tilley, (2009), online marketing can be simply defined as
promotional activity on the Internet, including email. It can take many forms, including
search engine marketing, email marketing, online advertising, social media, and affiliate
marketing.
The term of online marketing could be used by many authors in different ways such as e-
marketing, digital marketing, internet marketing or web-based marketing. Chaffey, Ellis-
Chadwick, Johnston and Mayer (2006) explained that Internet marketing can be simply
defined as achieving marketing objectives through applying digital technologies (p.8)
Chaffey et al. (2006) explained that in practice, Internet marketing will include the use of a
company web site in conjunction with online promotional techniques, such as search
engine marketing, interactive advertising, e-mail marketing and partnership arrangements
with other web sites. The term Internet marketing tends to refer to an external perspective of how the Internet can be used in conjunction with traditional media to acquire and
deliver services to customers.
According to (Vella and Kester, 2008), the purpose of online marketing is to exploit the
internet and other forms of electronic communication to communicate with target markets
in the most cost-effective ways. Online Marketing can be considered as a targeted
approach to reaching both potential and existing customers and the online information is
the crucial influence on the decisions of consumer (Vella and Kester, 2008).
3.1.2. Types of online marketing
Online marketing is a vast subject, to make the online marketing business successful
companies need to find the suitable marketing strategy to reach the real target market, and
to take full advantage of online marketing. (Admin, 2010) There are numerous types of
online marketing that many companies follow, in this paper some major types are
discussed as follows:
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Search Engine Optimization (SEO): is the use of techniques to increase the website
traffic. By using the appropriate keywords in the content of the company website, the
search engines will display the website on the top of the search results when a reach of a
certain topic is made, and more traffic can be obtained (Cho, 2010). Search engines can be
divided into three different types, namely primary, secondary and targeted search engine
(Ledford, 2008).
Primary search engine (also called major), is the type of search engines which is common
known by people such as Yahoo! Google, and MSN are primary search engines. Primary
search engine will bring majority of the traffic to the website of company. Each primary
search engine differs slightly from the others. (Ledford, 2008)
Secondary search engines are the search engines with general content but targeted at
smaller, more specific audiences. Secondary search engines are useful for regional and
more narrowly focused searches to generate valuable traffic. Lycos, LookSmart, Miva,
Ask.com, and Espotting are secondary search engines. The ranking of search results will
vary in the way from one to another. (Ledford, 2008)
Targeted search engines (sometimes called topical search engines) are the most specific of
all the search engines. Targeted search engines are very narrowly focused, usually to a
general topic, like medicine or branches of science, travel, sports, or some other topic. For
examples, CitySearch, Yahoo! Travel, and Music Search are targeted search engines. Same
as other types of search engines, ranking criteria will vary from one to another. (Ledford,
2008)
Email Marketing: is promoting the companys products to a known database of existing and potential customers via email (Cho, 2010). E-mail marketing is becoming an essential,
integral part of online marketing and it has become an accepted method of communication
for both consumers and businesses. Compare to the traditional direct mail, E-mail offers
more practical benefits. Firstly, it takes lower cost, which means it is possible to send
more, better targeted, to more audience, and this can help the company to reach more
traffic. Secondly, in order to keep the customers to visit back, E-mail can be used to send
reminders about a sales promotion or messages about offer to the customers. Finally, e-
mail is a two-way communication: customers can give the feedback to the company.
Meanwhile, companies can improve the strategy to satisfy the customers. E-mail can be
seen as a communication tool that gives more options for converting the audience to
action. (Chaffey, 2003)
Social Media Marketing: social media is the most popular marketing strategy presently. It
is also a tool for the companies to obtain more traffic through interacting with the
customers. (Admin, 2010) Social media has impacted the way of communication for both companies and customers. It offers a platform which is easily to access by everyone
through Internet. By using this platform, people can communicate and interact with each
other, share information, and it also provides wider opportunities for companies to reach
customers and build company brands.
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Pay per click (PPC): is an online marketing technique with costs. The companies create
different advertisements with keywords and place them on the related websites. The more
the company pays for the click the more its advertisement appears on the search engine
(Admin, 2010). In order to succeed at PPC advertising, one of the most important factors is
the ability to persuade people to take action by using just a few well-chosen words. And
this also can help the companies to discover which words and messages are most effective
at persuading customers to buy. By using this information companies can design other
online and offline campaigns. To achieve optimal results, all elements of a PPC campaign
must be in good working order, operating together synergistically (Szetela and
Kerschbaum, 2010).
It is obviously that all the types of online marketing that mentioned above are just some of
the online marketing strategies, and more online marketing strategies are being invented all
the time.
3.1.3. Advantages of online marketing
Since the online marketing has increased rapidly, companies must become aware of that
some of the consumers have shifted the way they perceive, instead of the traditional
marketing (television, radio, print) more and more customers prefer to search and acquire
information from the online search engines. Companies have to realize the playing field
has been leveled. The benefits of online marketing are wide-ranging, as a burgeoning
marketing strategy online marketing can benefit both consumer and company interests.
(Vella and Kester, 2008)
Benefits to consumer:
It is convenient for the customers. Instead of going to the real store, customers can shop 24 hours a day from any places. (Kotlerof and Armstrong, 1998)
It is interactive. Two-way interaction between consumers and companies, or between customer and other like-minded customer. (Vella and Kester, 2008)
These interactions can help customers to find the information, products, or
services they desire.
Benefits to company:
Build customer relationship. Through the interaction companies can get the ability to engage with customers and to build customer databases. (Vella and
Kester, 2008)
Cost-effectiveness. Avoid the expense in conveying information and products. (Vella and Kester, 2008)
Flexibility. Product availability, prices, and promotions can be adjusted daily or even hourly, to match changing market conditions. (Vella and Kester, 2008)
Opportunity to access to Global Markets. (Vella and Kester, 2008)
Brand building and promoting. (Vella and Kester, 2008)
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3.2. ONLINE MARKETING IN TOURISM DESTINATION
Tourism is an industry with the nature of information-intensive and it demands an
important role of internet communication technologies in the promotion and marketing of
destinations. At the present time, Internet has become a primary tool for the delivery of
information. In a burgeoning market, competitiveness takes advantage. Therefore nearly
all major markets use Internet as a marketing medium. The online marketing of DOMs
gives a platform for visitors to access information and to communicate with others,
furthermore the online marketing also offers DOMs more opportunities to reach both
existing and potential visitors than ever before.
3.2.1. Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs)
According to Pike (2008), a destination marketing organization (DMO) is the organization
which is responsible for the marketing of an identifiable destination. This therefore
excludes separate government departments that are responsible for planning and policy,
and private sector umbrella organizations.
Most tourism activities take place at destinations. It has even been suggested that
destinations have emerged as the fundamental unit of analysis in tourism, and form a
pillar in any modeling of the tourism system (WTO, 2002). Some studies indicate clearly that destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are concerned with the selling of places
(Pike, 2008).
Nowadays, travelers are offered a mass of choices by the destinations. Therefore all the
destinations are facing the challenges: How to attract travelers? How to enhance the long
term competitiveness of the destination? DMO is considered as a major solution to solve
the challenges. Pike (2008) pointed out that the purpose of any DMO is to foster sustained
destination competitiveness.
The research uses the case study of VisitSweden as the DMO of Sweden. VisitSweden is a
communications company half-owned by the Swedish state, through the Ministry of
Enterprise, Energy and Communications and half-owned by the Swedish tourism industry,
through Svensk Turism AB (VisitSweden, 2011). As the official DMO of Sweden, The
assignment of VisitSweden focuses on both the international marketing of the Swedish
brand and the foreign marketing of Swedish destinations and experiences. VisitSweden
applied itself to promote a positive image of Sweden, the whole organization works
closely with foreign operators and the Swedish tourism industry. VisitSweden also
develops the collaboration with the other members of the Council for the Promotion of
Sweden Abroad. By sharing the information from different offices, VisitSweden can
strengthen its competiveness in the market and as a result increase sales in the tourism
industry.
VisitSweden concentrates on 12 prioritized countries for the international marketing of
Sweden: Norway, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom,
United States, France, Italy, Spain and China. All these foreign offices offer VisitSweden
the information on culture, trends, travel needs, accessibility, local lifestyle, local issues
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and perceptions of Sweden, which can help VisitSweden to design the suitable strategy for
the whole organization (VisitSweden, 2011).
Figure 1: VisitSweden website
3.2.2. Online marketing in DMOs
As mentioned before in this study, tourism is an information-intensive industry and
Internet is the most effective and efficient tool in information exchange worldwide. Most
tourism organizations are by now familiar with the Internet. The Internet can potentially
enable tourism destinations and enterprises to strengthen themselves in todays competitive environment. Furthermore the Internet can also provide tourists the additional
information about the destinations. Even the smallest countries are able to advertise
themselves freely in the Internet. To use Internet as a marketing media can benefit to
virtual all areas of marketing, from marketing research, through market segmentation,
targeting and positioning, to the effective use of the marketing mix, and marketing
organization and control (Liu, 2000).
Internet and digital communication technologies have been used by some DOMs as an
innovative factor in the marketing strategies. In this study, the authors take some DOMs as
examples of applying the digital technologies in marketing strategies to give the reader a
picture of recent trend in marketing destinations. Singapore and Canada are two brands of
destination organizations that did impressive job at the realm of online marketing and
social media, the brief introduction of these two destination organizations will be presented
in the following.
Singapore Tourism Board (STB)
Recently, STB claims to put the digital to the heart of destination marketing strategy when
changing the destination brand from Uniquely Singapore (used from 2004 to 2009) to YourSingapore (Lunched from March 5th 2010) (Singapore Tourism Board, 2010)
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As the previous Singapores destination brand, Uniquely Singapore positions Singapore as a unique blend of the best from the modern world and rich cultures to deliver enriching
experiences for discerning visitors. During the five years since Uniquely Singapore was
launched, there was a huge increase of visitor arrivals from 8.3 million in 2004 to 9.7
million in 2009, representing a growth of 16.8%. Singapore has also witnessed strong
growth in its Tourism Receipts during this period from S$9.8 billion in 2004 to S$15.2
billion in 2008, a growth of 55.1%. (YourSingapore, 2010)
To constantly evolve to present new and engaging travel experiences, and make itself to be
suitable to live in an ever-changing environment, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) decided
to use YourSingapore to take over from where Uniquely Singapore has left off. YourSingapore focus on visitor-centricity, meaning the experiences are made wholesome
and personal, drawing their allure from the breadth and richness of attractions many have
grown to love here in Singapore. In the YourSingapore marketing campaign,
YourSingapore.com is intended to drive people to visit the campaign website, where they
will be inspired to explore what Singapore has to offer and be motivated into creating their
personal journey, from securing a room in the latest boutique hotel to booking seats for a
musical matinee. It emphasizes that each interpretation or experience of the destination is
the unique one, differ from the others. YourSingapore website is an interactive platform,
visitors can experience a virtual version of Singapore, and it also offers visitors the space
to share their experiences about Singapore. Corresponding to the brand strategy,
YourSingapore also engages with visitors through social media, such as, Facebook,
YouTube and Twitter. (YourSingapore, 2010)
Figure 2: YourSingapore website
Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC)
The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) is the official DMO of Canada. The vision of
CTC is inspiring the world to explore Canada. CTC leads Canada's tourism marketing
efforts in global markets and consumer segments where there is the highest potential for
return on investment. Currently CTC approach targets international travelers in 11
countries around the world, namely Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India,
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Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United State (Canadian Tourism
Commission, 2011)
CTC works in collaboration with the Canadian private sectors, international travel trades,
meeting professionals, and the governments of Canada, the provinces and the territories to
position Canada as a place where travelers can create their own unique and extraordinary
personal experiences. The CTCs business structure focuses marketing investments where the Canada tourism brand is a leader. To achieve the strategic goal of growing revenue for
Canada's tourism economy, CTC follows a strategy of focusing on markets where
Canada's tourism brand leads and yields the highest return on investment. In addition, by
harnessing the collective energy of different levels of government and the private sector,
CTC takes the lead in communicating a strong, consistent, global brand for Canada.
Overall, CTC is leading the way to attract the more and more visitors to Canada. CTC
engages in integrated advertising campaigns using broadcast, social media, newspapers,
magazines, billboards, online marketing and database marketing. All these media and
public relations activities aim to develop key relationships with international media to
influence a high level of positive coverage about Canada (Canadian Tourism Commission,
2010).
Social media is an important element of the overall marketing strategy of CTC. Embracing
social media enables CTC to reach influencers and consumers. The common social media
platforms used in CTC are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr (Canadian Tourism
Commission, 2010). Canada travel keeps exploring social media research to find a better
way to communicate with customers. CTC is definitely in the first category and constantly
looking for examples of innovation and best practices to share (CTC, 2010). CTC has
gained a global reputation as a leading innovator in tourism research. All these works CTC
has done about online marketing contribute to giving Canada's tourism a competitive edge
(Canadian Tourism Commission, 2010). CTC got two Adrian Awards honoring
outstanding achievement in advertising, public relations and digital marketing in travel
industry in 2010 (CTM, 2010)
Figure 3: Canada official tourism website
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Today, visitors want to personalize their travel experience based on their individual needs
and tastes. The way people plan and book travel are fundamentally changed by social
media and Internet based search as well as e-commerce tools. Furthermore, social media
has changed the nature of word of mouth referral in travel, instead of asking travel agents
advice, visitors now prefer to ask friends and check reviews through social media
networks. For nearly all of the DMOs, to consider using Internet and social media as the
tools for marketing and applying to the online marketing strategy will enhance the
competitiveness of the DMOs. As a result, DMOs are able to reach more visitors
worldwide.
3.3. SOCIAL MEDIA
3.3.1. Social media definition
Over the last few years, there have been many authors definitions of social media. Each of them could reflect different perspectives about social media. Poynter (2010) explained that
the term of social media is a very broad phrase which is hard to define but easy to
recognize and the core element of the definitions of social media is the way that the
internet and its advantages are being used to move away from media that was
fundamentally a one-to-many model towards a many-to-many model. It related to the
ability to create and share content. Everyone can blog, share their photo, video for free
Zarrella (2010) shared the same opinion with Poynter about the term of social media when
the author compared with the traditional media paradigms which primarily are one-way
static broadcast technologies such as television, newspapers, radio, and magazines. The
instant feedback to the editorial board cannot be sent if the readers disagree with
something in the newspaper. By contrast, the new web technologies of social media permit
anyone to create and distribute their own content as well as leave your comments or
feedbacks instantly.
According to Scott (2010), the term of social media does not refer the different
technologies and tools but rather how those technologies allow people to communicate. It
refers to a variety of media that people use to communicate online in a social way.
Safko and Brake (2009) claimed that social media and web 2.0 come together since both of
them have principal goal to enable communities to form and interact with one another.
According to O'Reilly (2005), the concept of Web 2.0 initially began with the conference
between OReilly Media, inc., and MediaLive International focused on the noticeable ship in the revolution of World Wide Web. Web 2.0 does not refer to a new physical improved
version of Internet. Web 2.0 comes together with social media and has its primary goal to
enable communities to form and interact with the other (Safko and Brake, 2009)
The idea of Web 2.0 focuses on new business models. Whereas the focus of Web 1.0 was
on delivering products. Web 2.0 had permitted a shift to delivere services that can be used
and combined with other services in new ways and presented the interactivity with end
users in new ways, enabling users to drive what is important or of the most value (Bernal,
2010). Bernal demonstrated the different between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 by the following
figures.
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Web 1.0
Web 2.0
Figure 4: Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 paradigm (Joey Bernal, 2009)
Web 1.0 presents a strict approach to delivering web content from webmaster and content
contributor. The website is built and maintained for consumption by end users. The
relationship between user and webmaster is strictly unidirectional in web 1.0. In contrast to
the approach in Web 1.0, the web 2.0 permits the user to interact with the website and the
other people. Users can create, edit, rate, their own content at will, which provides other
users with new information.
Barefoot and Szabo (2010) also gave a comparison between web 1.0 and web 2.0 as
following table.
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Figure 5: The shift to a conversational Web (Barefoot and Szabo, 2010)
3.3.2. Social media platforms
Nowadays, the buzz words such as Google, Facebook, video-sharing website Youtube and
so forth become so popular to the internet users which force the online marketing
researchers to take an in-depth evaluation on it Cavazza (2011) introduced his third vision
of the chart illustrates the latest diversity of social media in the following.
Figure 6: Social media landscape (Cavazza, 2011)
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The chart is composed of seven primary categories. Within each of these categories, the
main players are listed accordingly. Unlike the older vision, as we can see Facebook and
Google in the center of this model. The author claimed that Google is relatively quiet on
the social media field because his offering is spread on several platforms (Google owns the
video sharing site YouTube and it is said that they are developing their own social
networking site to compete with Facebook). Facebook can be seen as the center of social
media as a convenient place where one can find most of services offered in a single
platform.
3.3.2.1. Social networks
Bernal (2010) claimed that Social networks implicate the creation of a virtual community
where internet user can share, discuss, collaborate, and even argue about topics of common
interest. When it comes to the social networks, the popular websites are mentioned,
namely Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Linkedin. Currently, Facebook is the dominant
social networking site. As other social networking sites, the fundamental features on
Facebook are a persons Home page and Profile with connection of friend. People communicate with one another through Chat, personal messages, Wall posts, Pokes, or
Status Updates. Additionally, Facebook also provide applications, photos, events, video,
groups and pages which let people connect and share their interest in rich and engaging
ways (Facebook, 2011).
In February 2004, Mark Zuckerberg (the founder and CEO of Facebook at present) and
three of his friend launched Facebook from their Harvard dorm room. Sometime between
April 2008 and February 2009, Facebook overtook the worlds most popular social network MySpace at that time (Zarrella, 2010). Facebook reaches over 500 million active
users By July 2010 (Facebook company timeline, 2011).
Linkedin is the social networking site for professionals. As mentioned in the factsheet of
companys website. LinkedIn operates the worlds largest professional network on the Internet with more than 100 million members in over 200 countries and territories
(Linkedin, 2011). The core function of LinkedIn is professional networking which is used
heavily by job seekers and recruiters. It is the only one of the four major social networking
sites that charges a fee for some types of access (Zarrella, 2010).
3.3.2.2. Blogs / Publishing
The term blog is a combination of the words web and log, was born in December 1997.
Blogging did not start to bloom until 1999, when the website LiveJournal and Blogger
were launched (Zarrella, 2010). Blog is a type of website or part of a website which is
usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of
events, or other material such as graphics or video. However blogging has become as a
mass medium and it is no longer kept up by individual. 95% of the top 100 US newspapers
have reporter blogs such as New York Times with Bits blog offering a steady stream of
news and analysis on the technology industry throughout the newspapers writers and
freelancers (Technorati, 2011). Moreover, many companies use blog as a communication
channel to build a personal relationship between Southwest employees and customers as
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the case of Southwest Airlines blog (www.blogsouthwest.com). In another example, the computer producer Dell launched its blog, Direct2Dell, in July 2006, to engage customers,
open up the lines of communication. (Solis, 2010).
In recent time, the term micro-blogging is used as one kind of blogging that limits the size
of each entry. Most authors such as Safco and Brake (2009), Solis, Scott and Zarrella
(2010) considered Twitter as a typical micro-blogging. At the heart of Twitter is small line
of information called Tweets which let you publish the information together with links,
photo, video and other media contents. Each Tweet has maximum 140 characters in length.
According to the statistical facts from Twitter, up to September 14, 2010, there are 175
million registered users with 95M tweets are written per day. (Twitter, 2011).
Whereas a blog is mostly a way for individual or a small group of people to share
information, a wiki is much more collaborative. (Bernal, 2010). Wikis is a website that
allows site visitors to add, edit, update, and amend information through any Web browser.
One of the most successful and influential websites in existence is a wiki is Wikipedia.
(Solis, 2010). Wikipedia is a multilingual, web-based free-content encyclopedia project
which is hosted by Wikimedia foundation a non-profit organization that also hosts other
projects such as Wikimedia Commons - a free media repository, Wikiquote - a collection
of quotation, Wikitionary dictionary and thesaurus and so on. (Wikipedia website, 2011). It provides a platform for the worlds largest online user-generated content encyclopedia. (Safko and Brake, 2009). Wikipedia has an incredible rank in the Google page-rank
function, and in most cases the primary result for any search in Google search engine will
direct you to the corresponding page in Wikipedia. (Solis, 2010).
3.3.2.3. Multimedia sharing
According to the Oxford Online Dictionary, the term multimedia means the use of a
variety of artistic or communicative media (Oxford, 2011). The multimedia sharing sites
allow internet users to create and upload multimedia content such as images, photos,
presentations, video, music and radio. The multimedia sharing sites did not bloom until
2004, when Flickr was launched, combining easy photo uploading with tagging and social
networking functionality. Founded in February 2005, YouTube is currently the largest
video-sharing site on the Web and the third most visited site on the Internet (Zarrella,
2010). YouTube which allows people to discover, watch and share originally-created
videos. In addition, it provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others.
During 2010 more than 13 million hours of video were uploaded and 35 hours of video are
uploaded every minute (YouTube, YouTube statistics, 2011).
Recently, there is one kind of audio sharing which is called podcast. Zarrella (2010)
claimed that podcasts are defined as audio files. The word podcast comes from combining
the terms iPod (Apple iPod digital music player) and broadcast. and actually applies to both audio and video recordings. Otherwise, Podcasts are like blogs in that they can be
RSS-fed. According to Scott (2010), the simplest way to think of podcast is that it is like a
radio show but you listen to each episode at your convenience by online or downloading to
your computer or mobile device such as cell phone or IPod.
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3.3.2.4. Online customer reviews and ratings
It is increasingly common for internet users to read about product experiences of other
consumers on the internet and also to write and share their own experiences. Recently, a
survey which conducted an online poll of 2,012 local consumers across the US & UK by
BrightLocal.com finds that 79% of people aged 16-34 trust online customer reviews as
much as personal recommendations. The figure also shows that the younger local
consumers are more trusting online reviews than older consumers aged 55+ (Anderson,
2010)
Figure 7: Do you trust online customer reviews as much as personal
recommendations? (Anderson, 2010)
3.3.2.5. Tagging and social bookmarking
Tagging is a tool helping internet users to define content. Tagging an item on the website
means to simply identify of categorize that item with one or more category name. The list
of categories is called a tag cloud. Normally, the most popular tags become darker and
bigger in the list. (Bernal, 2010).
Social bookmarking sites, such as delicious.com, Diigo.com, and Stumbleupon.com
provide a social network for people to save, share and discover relevant link of favorite
websites. It also permits internet users to have online bookmarks with tagging to share the
interest with other web surfers instead of keeping it in their own personal computer.
3.3.2.6. Forums
Zarrella (2010) claimed that forums are a modern version of community bulletin boards
that is arguably considered as the oldest type of web-based social media. The focus of
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forums is discussion. Users will make posts to them and others will respond. Nowadays
there are thousands of popular forums on the Web. Your profile on a forum is a
representation of who you are and your communication on a forum is your writing posts
with text-based piece of content or image.
3.4. USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
With the advent of social media, many organizations from public to private aim to invest
on it. Organizations are increasingly taking advantage of these tools with different
purposes. To answer fully the question what is the aim of using social media will need
more examinations. Some companies have been investing in exploring the strategies of
using social media. Many social media experts share the same opinion about the inevitable
external impacts of social media as one of the marketing tools which help to boot the sales,
gain traffic and new audience from social sites, build close dialogues with customers as
well as reach potential customers and retain their interest. As a result, social media has
become the brand ambassadors.
According to a recent survey of Deloitte a consulting, financial advisory company, there
are many business goals for social media investment such as to increase brand reputation,
create competitive advantage, increase sales or customers fidelity, or enhance the success
of new products and so forth. However, Brand reputation and word of mouth marketing
are the most common goals among the companies that approach and investing in social
media. The result is demonstrated by the chart as follows:
Figure 8: Business goals for use of social media (Cipriani, 2010)
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One of the rising trends recently is the use of social media for recruitment because of the
development of the professional networking sites such as Linkedin (the largest
professional network that allows you to be introduced to and collaborate with other
professionals through the world) and Xing (mostly considered as European business
network with more than 10 million members). These business networks have created an
online database of resumes that will be used by hiring firms, corporate HR departments to
locate candidates digitally.
There have been many widespread debates over the use of social media as part of internal
communication plan. Stratmann (2010) claimed that by using internal social media
platforms, companies are able to have real-time, authentic conversations with employees
which lead to the participation in discussions, involvement and add value to the employee
experience. In the case of a global company it also means that people can connect with
their colleagues all over the world on a more involved level than just email and phone,
thanks to the picture, profile and forum. The hint is that companies can boost productivity
and improve information and knowledge (NOVA Workforce Board, 2011).
When it comes to these internal communication and collaboration, Some of small and mid-
sized companies are using several web enterprise collaboration platforms such as Yammer
(www.yammer.com), SharePoint developed by Microsoft
(http://sharepoint.microsoft.com), Socialcast (www.Socialcast.com) which permit the
company to unite the staff, data and application in the real-time with the tool such as
micro-blogging (share status update, questions, comments and ideas) Create and private or
public groups, communities to collaborate the teams within the network, manage and share
documents, data and application
According to Brown (2009), there are a few organizations that are doing social media
internally very well, namely IBM, Nortel, Microsoft and British Telecom, among others
and most are still using one-way communication with their employees, i.e. newsletters,
bulletin boards, email and static intranet sites. The answer for this limited internal use of
social media is that the management still fears the backlash from the use of social media
when the employees spend too much time at work which could lead to the loss of the
companies money and the number of organizations has blocked access to social media sites on their networks. However, Questions have been raised whether or not it also closes
off potential for collaboration and development of new ideas across the whole
organization.
3.5. TOURISM DESTINATION BRAND
3.5.1. Brand and branding
According to Kotler and Keller (2006), the most distinctive skill of professional marketers
might be their ability to create, maintain, enhance, and protect brands. As a result,
branding has become a marketing main concern. Kotler and Keller found the following
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a name, term, sign, symbol, or
design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one sellers
of group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors (p. 274)
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Kapferer (2008) demonstrated brands as living systems make up of three poles: products or services, name and concept. In brand management, when talking of the term brand we should not refer to a single aspect as a name or a logo. We should assert it as the whole
system, relating a concept with inherent value to products and services that are identified
by a name and set of proprietary signs such as logo or other symbols.
Figure 9: Brand system (Kapferer, 2008)
Blois (2000) asserts that no one accepted one definition of brand, only share a significant
degree of agreement in the perspectives. The author groups these different perspectives
into six categories: visual/verbal approaches as Aaker (1991) defines a brand as: a
distinguishing name and/or symbol such as logo, trademark; positioning approaches
emphasizing the establishment of unique position in consumers mind that differentiate from the competition; brand image approaches based on a clear understanding of target
consumer; added value approaches underlining the importance of value in what the brand
has to offer and represent the needs of consumer; perceptual appeal approaches and
personality-based approaches, for example, the personality of Coke has been carefully
built to represent youth.
What is the importance of brands? Kotler (2003) quoted the word of Roberto Goizueta the
formal CEO of Coca-Cola to talk about the critical role of brands as follows.
All our factories and facilities could burn down tomorrow but youd hardly touch the value of the company; all that actually lies in the goodwill of our brand
franchise and the collective knowledge in the company. (p. 8)
Brands obviously provide critical benefits to both firms and consumers, a question then is,
how are brands created? and how you can brand a product? (Keller, Aperia and Georgson,